Plush soft figures such as dolls and stuffed animals have delighted children and adults for many years. The figures have taken on an indescribable number of appearances and are loved by young and old alike. Very young children are particularly fond of such figures, holding and caressing them for hours at a time.
Infants and young children are very interested in touching and manipulating the objects in the world surrounding them, and have an insatiable curiosity about how things are put together. Infants closely study the activities of their parents and enjoy watching them assemble and disassemble the myriad of toys adapted for that purpose. It is well-known that observing the construction and the disassembly of objects assist infants in developing their cognitive processes, and as they grow older, the children develop motor skills and eye-hand coordination by doing for themselves what they observed their parents doing.
Children also love soft cuddly things to cover themselves with, squeeze, roll up or lie on.
Accordingly, the principal object of this invention is to provide an article which serves the purposes discussed above, and many others. The convertible figure described and claimed herein, has the capability of being configured into a soft doll or toy such as a teddy bear, and also to be configured into a substantially flat covering means such as a blanket. In contrast with other attempts to develop articles having similar capabilities, the present invention employs unique means which enable the entire article to lie essentially flat, as a blanket having an applique attached to its surface. Therefore, the present invention achieves a very neat appearance as both a figure and a covering means through the use of unique and unobvious construction techniques facilitating a quick and easy change from one configuration to the other.